Next.
Wei Tu, right in front of Yan Xiaolan, swallowed several pills and formed a hand seal. His appearance changed into one of extreme exhaustion, with white hair at his temples, looking old and frail.
"Tomorrow I will…" Wei Tu whispered a few sentences into Yan Xiaolan's ear, telling her the specific plan for the next day. He wasn't fully confident he could stabilize the Yan family, so he needed Yan Xiaolan to cooperate with him completely to maximize their chances of success.
But unlike what Wei Tu imagined, Yan Xiaolan wasn't just thinking about how to fool the Yan family tomorrow. She was also starting to doubt Wei Tu's actual age.
'Senior Cui might not really be some decrepit old man. Could he actually be around 500 or 600 years old?' Yan Xiaolan's heart pounded with excitement, feeling like she had struck it big.
If her guess was right, then with Wei Tu's lifespan, he might be able to protect her until she broke through to Golden Core and became a Golden Core True Lord. By then, not only would she have reached Golden Core, but she'd also have a great chance of inheriting Wei Tu's estate after his death. And the estate of someone at late Golden Core was many times richer than that of a mid-Golden Core cultivator—far more than she ever hoped for.
As for whether Wei Tu would abandon her…
Yan Xiaolan didn't even consider it. In her mind, she had cultivated the Luan Phoenix Art for years and was already effectively Wei Tu's cauldron. Plus, she had just swallowed the poison pill, proving her absolute loyalty. Who around Wei Tu could he trust more than her?
Besides, over the past eight years, Wei Tu had invested a lot in her already. Abandoning her now would mean throwing away tens of thousands of spirit stones for nothing. She thought no one would make such a stupid decision.
…
The next day.
Yan Zezhi and his nephew arrived at Little Cold Mountain as promised to visit Wei Tu.
"Friend Cui, now that trade between Xiao and Kang has resumed, our Lougao Sect will miss your pills… but we can't keep you from reuniting with your family, or it would go against righteous principles…"
Once they entered the cave residence, Yan Zezhi exchanged a few pleasantries before getting straight to the point, testing Wei Tu directly.
"Reunite with family?" Wei Tu frowned slightly, his face dark and unreadable, appearing a bit gloomy. Had something changed?
Seeing this, Yan Zezhi and Yan Zhenping weren't sure what Wei Tu was thinking. According to their expectations, Wei Tu should either happily agree or find an excuse to refuse when hearing those words. But his expression was completely outside their predictions.
After a moment, the unreadable Wei Tu finally spoke. But his response caught Yan Zezhi and Yan Zhenping completely off guard.
Wei Tu said, "I'm already old, and I'm a prime target for many rogue cultivators. If I rashly return to Kang Kingdom, I might not survive…" He sighed. "Staying at Little Cold Mountain to enjoy my final years is already a blessing for me. I dare not ask for more."
"But…" Wei Tu paused briefly, then continued, "But there is one thing I need your help with, and I hope you can agree."
Before Yan Zezhi could answer, Wei Tu continued talking on his own: "Having only Xiaolan cultivate the Luan Phoenix Art is too slow… Does your family have other suitable young female cultivators? I'm willing to pay a hefty price to hire them."
Hearing this, Yan Zezhi and Yan Zhenping exchanged glances, both stunned. They hadn't expected Wei Tu to be so shameless—having Yan Xiaolan wasn't enough; he actually wanted more girls from their family!
If they agreed to this, their Yan family would become a laughingstock among other clans!
"This old bastard made Xiaolan practice the Luan Phoenix Art so he could dual cultivate later, absorbing her pure yin essence to extend his lifespan," Yan Zhenping analyzed quietly.
"This Cui guy… he's become a life slave," Yan Zezhi judged, eyes narrowing.
A life slave, as the name suggested, was someone enslaved by their own lifespan. To keep living, they would burn everything they had, doing whatever it took to extend their life.
Becoming a life slave—
This usually happened with old cultivators whose lifespan was almost up. They couldn't accept death, so they'd try any method to keep living, even for a few more years.
Life slaves were common in demonic sects, but rare in righteous ones. After all, most lifespan-extending secret arts belonged to the demonic path. But when a life slave appeared in the righteous path, it often shattered people's worldviews, leaving them shocked. That was because many life slaves had once been respected elders who dedicated themselves to righteous causes, going through fire and water for their sects.
"A life slave?" Yan Zhenping suddenly understood. "No wonder he doesn't want to return to Kang Kingdom."
Before becoming a life slave, righteous seniors were willing to give everything to their clans. But once they became life slaves, they turned extremely selfish—if they didn't refuse to sacrifice, they would even demand their descendants go all-out to support them.
A hundred years ago in the neighboring Chu Kingdom, a Nascent Soul life slave appeared. Just like Wei Tu, he took many concubines and used dual cultivation to extend his life. But what made that Nascent Soul life slave especially vile was that he feared news of his condition leaking and righteous sects coming to kill him, so he locked down his family and forced his own female descendants to marry him for dual cultivation.
If no one from the family had escaped and exposed the scandal, that Nascent Soul life slave might still be alive today. Of course, everyone hated life slaves, but as long as their deeds didn't become widely known and ruin their reputation, most wouldn't bother to interfere. After all, even the most righteous cultivators found it hard to resist the desire to live longer when facing death. That's just human nature!
The righteous sects couldn't just go around killing every life slave they found. First, there were the complications of inter-sect relations. What if a sect's claim to be upholding justice was really just an excuse to seize territory? No one would invite trouble like that.
Second, it was hard to define a life slave clearly. If an elder wanted to enjoy themselves before dying, was that wrong? For example, right now, Wei Tu wanting to take more concubines and use dual cultivation to extend his life wasn't against any public moral order. In the cultivation world, it was perfectly normal for men to have multiple wives.
"This is my betrothal gift," Wei Tu said as he flipped his palm, pulling out a pouch of spirit stones and setting it on the table.
"Ten thousand spirit stones?" Yan Zezhi's eyebrows shot up in surprise at Wei Tu's generosity. Normally, a mid-Golden Core cultivator—aside from their big-ticket items like artifacts—would only have thirty or fifty thousand spirit stones. As a second-tier alchemist, Wei Tu might have more, but pulling out ten thousand spirit stones in one go was still impressive. It showed just how desperate this life slave was to prolong his life!
"Our Yan family doesn't have any suitable young female cultivators like Xiaolan, but other families do… Rest assured, Friend Cui, I'll handle this for you," Yan Zezhi said with a smile, sweeping the spirit stone pouch over to himself with a flick of his sleeve. Though he found Wei Tu's state as a life slave shameful, this turn of events actually benefited the Yan family. They could either slander Wei Tu, kill him under the pretense of exterminating a life slave, and seize his inheritance—or they could keep sending girls to him, milking his estate bit by bit. Either way, it was a win for them.
"What? More concubines?" Standing behind Wei Tu, Yan Xiaolan's face changed, turning ugly. It was obvious: with more concubines, her position with Wei Tu would become meaningless.
"Xiaolan! How dare you interrupt when your uncle and Senior Cui are talking!" Yan Zhenping snapped harshly, glaring at her.
"Father, I know, but…" Yan Xiaolan looked pitiful and hesitated to finish her words. Yan Zhenping immediately understood her worries—she wasn't just worried about losing her place at Little Cold Mountain, but also about how their family would secure Wei Tu's inheritance after his death. After all, if girls from other families showed up, it would be much harder for the Yan family to claim everything for themselves.
"Xiaolan has been kind, gentle, and attentive to me these years. She deserves to be the head mistress of Little Cold Mountain," Wei Tu said calmly at just the right moment.
Hearing that, Yan Zezhi, Yan Zhenping, and Yan Xiaolan all looked satisfied and had no more complaints.
"I'll take care of this right away for you, Friend Cui," Yan Zezhi said. After they discussed the details of taking more concubines, he rose, gave a respectful bow, and took his leave.
Wei Tu personally escorted Yan Zezhi and Yan Zhenping out of Little Cold Mountain with Yan Xiaolan, playing the part of a humble old man in need of help.
"That old fox is keeping Little Cold Mountain well maintained. Looks like he plans to stay long-term," Yan Zezhi said, his smile fading into a cold glint as soon as they left the mountain.
"But we can't trust him completely. He might still try to slip away," he added, instructing Yan Zhenping to send more people to watch the area around Little Cold Mountain closely.
"But we're just Foundation Establishment cultivators…" Yan Zhenping hesitated—he knew people from the Hundred Medicines Pavilion wouldn't stand a chance of catching Wei Tu if he wanted to escape.
"I'll keep an eye on Little Cold Mountain with your fourth uncle. Just do your part," Yan Zezhi assured him. Hearing that, Yan Zhenping relaxed and praised Yan Zezhi for his thoroughness.
…
Back inside the cave at Little Cold Mountain, Wei Tu finally let out a long breath of relief. With trade reopened between Xiao and Kang, his biggest fear was the Yan family deciding to risk everything and launch a sudden attack to steal his "inheritance." If that happened, whether they succeeded or not, he'd never be able to stay at Little Cold Mountain. Thankfully, Yan Zezhi had bought his story for now, and he'd managed to buy time.
This success owed a lot to Yan Xiaolan's cooperation. If they hadn't agreed on their plan beforehand, when he brought up taking more concubines, an unprepared Yan Xiaolan might have panicked and betrayed him. After all, she'd only been helping him all these years because she was counting on inheriting his estate. With new girls arriving, her position would become shaky—and her loyalty would crumble. He'd expected this.
"In two years, once I've finished cleansing my body completely, I can leave here safely," Wei Tu thought to himself.
"Xiaolan, you'll be in charge of the new concubines. Teach them the Luan Phoenix Art. Don't worry—they're not like you," Wei Tu added, giving her reassurance to keep her on his side.
"Thank you, Senior Cui!" Yan Xiaolan beamed with delight, feeling confident that she still held a special place in his heart. She nodded happily.